Hail to the American Runner

When analyzing the link between the popularity of running with the economy Cameron Stracher noted in the WSJ earlier this week that "when life gets tough, the tough get running." At least that seems to be true in the United States. Some other notable cultures long gone soft may not respond to life's downturns with such a strenuous defiance.

"This might explain why the French were recently in an uproar after photos surfaced of President Nicolas Sarkozy in shorts and a T-shirt breaking a sweat in the Tuileries. Running is an American activity, the French press claimed, a fascistic act designed to manage and control the body. Not an intellectual pursuit at all. 'It is about performance and individualism,' one writer wrote, right-wing values antithetical to everything cherished by the country that gave us foie gras."

Ironically, foie gras translates from French to fatty liver, a metabolic disease virtually unknown to the dedicated runner. If running distinguishes us from the French then its an American virtue that must be preserved.